to me, hard-core religious people are ones that judge people who do not believe the same way they do - and yes, I stay away from people like that - they make us free-will & no-religion-in-government thinkers who do practice a faith look bad!  it is frustrating because it makes the extremes on both sides more extreme in their convictions and us moderates stuck in the middle just want to get as far away as possible!

I respect your opinions but it seems you do not respect others - weak minded?  I have been called many things but weak-minded has never been one of them - I am sorry that you do not see church for some people as a way to connect with each other, that there are things like electric/heat bills that God doesn’t pay for,that organized religion is very human and imperfect but how can it be any different so are all religious leaders really hypocrites (I like having someone leading the Mass that knows how hard life can be - if they were perfect, they wouldn’t understand) - yes gender bias needs to be removed and we’re working on it ;)

hyper-religious and hyper-non-religious  folks are often very close in their harshness of judgements of others

actually faith is very hard - it requires a lot of work to continue to believe - that’s why we say we "practice" our faith because it’s a continual life-long process

at least make the legend bigger - and how can it be zero on one of the pie pieces?

I think, not sure, what she means is children are miracles to many people - and your child having a child must be something else too - all of my 3 babies (16, 10 and 4) are miracles - of course, it’s all science (and yes I believei n evolution), but science gets thrown out the window in your heart when you hold a newborn!  see my post a few pages downward…

I was raised a Roman Catholic - Catholic schools from 1st through 12th grade - my uncle, now deceased, was a priest -

for me now, it’s more of a cultural/ethnic connection, it’s a part of who I am -I am more akin to European Catholics who don’t get bent out of shape about catechism and the like

I think I am typical of many American Catholics, many of us are really cafeteria Catholics, we get irritated with the Pope, we pray for the unborn but think people have a right to choose life (or not), we see benefits to stem cell research - we hope that women will be priests in our lifetime and that all priests can marry but know it’s doubtful

the Catholic Church has mysteries and traditions that span the centuries and that’s what I love about it - the fact that it isn’t perfect, that we have done some really dumb things makes it that much more human to me - perfection is not found on Earth-even Luther found that out -

more recently, the Church has done some pretty horrific things that did not protect our children and ruined lives, and I always believed that arrests should have made of higher Church authorities for that - these things happen everywhere but other groups do the right thing and call the police which we should have done but did not - this time period caused me to consider leaving the Church but I just couldn’t let "management" disturb my faith so I stayed and found a parish that seeks forgiveness for what happened and is more left leaning (they are out there)

it has been researched that when people feel vulnerable, whether physically, emotionally or financially, they turn to what they believe is traditional - that is, fundamentalism - degradation of women, loss of freedom to make independent or personal decisions,  strict adherence to rules that are meant to suppress free thinking - this can be found in any religion, including Christianity - it’s not the religion that’s at fault, it’s the people in "management" that decide "we must return to our fundamentals" as a way to stay-safe that is at fault - organized religion is about humanity and sometimes we really mess it up bad - but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!

personally, I think the Buddhists have it right but I don’t have the inclination to convert - lol/smirk

this is so scary!

going a little off-topic to address this comment:  I don’t really believe in the good old days - yes, I grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s and I went off for the day and then came home for meals - but my brother basically knew where I was as did my Mom - my 85 yo Mom talks about the gypsies that would come through the city and kids really did vanish - she also talked about a man who used to try to "do things" as she said, to the girls in the neighborhood - we had the "dirty old Man" in our neighborhood that everyone knew about - we also knew which kids were beaten at home and possibly worse - the difference today is that gratefully, these people are not brushed aside or avoided, they are turned in and prosecuted - so these people have always been there, they were just swept under a rug and things, I think, are better today

I use Mary Kay and find I spend less on cosmetics than I did buying Revlon and Loreal at the drugstore - you only fill your compact and that’s it - the moisturizers are the same or less than the Loreal products!

I do miss Clinique when I lived and worked near a mall, I must admit…

again, so what - you can’t be a US citizen unless you drink the Kool-Aid and are hapy and proud all the time?  think about it, isn’t that kind of scary?  I think people are making a big deal about nothing -

she is smart, put together well, articulate, compassionate, supportive and sincere and I think people don’t know what to do with all that

the bottom line is:  her comment means the country has been in some turmoil and has had some nasty stuff happen in her lifetime - she is my age, born 1964 I belive, so she missed the Kennedy years, was a pre-schooler in the late 60’s, grew up watching Watergate and Vietnam, then the Iran-Contra crap - being a black woman likely made high aspirations that more out of reach, she likely had to work twice as hard as anyone else to get anywhere, most democrats (myself included) have not been too happy with the decisions of the Bush Administration - so how can we admonish her or call her un-patriotic because she was a little angry at her government - isn’t that an American right to be upset at what may be happening - isn’t that what freedom means in part?

I think people need to find something real to get mad at her for…

I almost hit style but it’s really personality - she’s one tough cookie who has a compassionate heart at the same time - I am intrigued by her and I wish I could sit and have a cup of coffee, no press, with her - yes, she has a lot of style and carries herself so well, but that all happens because of who she is as a person

 and I don’t get why people don’t like her - it can’t be a partisan thing, I liked George Senior’s wife Barbara though I had not voted for him and who couldn’t like Betty Ford?  people shouldn’t hate her becasue they are mad about the election, get over that - she is representing us women very well to the country and the world!

As a municipal planning director, I can’t wait for this show!  I always say my job could be a sitcome and it is!!!!

Those are mine favorites as well - and I would add Church to the list

 I got to see a homer exhibit at the MFA too as well as the Sargent one - fantastic!

the Hudson River painters are pretty amazing

My Mom says I have 3 days to get my kids through all the food groups!

;p